Ultimate Poker’s departure from the garden state has meant that both poker players and New Jersey brand ambassadors have had to part ways. Ultimate Poker was forced to shut down operations in New Jersey after its offshore partner Trump Taj Mahal Associates LLC filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
Ultimate Poker decided to wrap up operations and instead focus on its Nevada operations. All Ultimate Poker players were requested to close down their account and withdraw all of their earnings based on instructions issued by Ultimate Poker. Some of the brand ambassadors who had their contracts terminated include Jason Somerville, William Reynolds, Brent Hanks Jeremy Ausmus and Phil Collins.
Somerville was hired by Ultimate Poker to broadcast his web series “Run It UP!” which follows his journey of starting with $50 on Ultimate Poker and trying to break the $10,000 mark. The “Run It UP” series proved to be a success during season 1 and Ultimate Poker renewed the show for a broadcast of Season 2. However, all that changed when Ultimate Poker withdrew from New Jersey and also let Somerville know that it would no longer require or broadcast episodes of “Run It UP!”.
The web series proved to be a success because there are a number of amateur poker players who are interested to learn the ropes in a live setting. The program of late has reached over 5000 live viewers and continues to gain a wider audience with each episode. Ultimate Poker was publishing these web episodes on its website and using the live feed to bring in more traffic.
Upon termination of the contract, Ultimate Poker informed Somerville that he had permission to use the remaining episodes and publish it on his own channel.
In a statement, Somerville said
My goals with Run it Up are to create the best poker content and poker experiences possible for our global audience; Being on our own for the first time allows us to wholly focus on what’s really important to us and our fans without having to align with and prioritize our partner’s goals at the same top level as our own
Fans who are interested in watching the remaining episodes of Run it Up! will be able to do so by going to runitup.tv.
As of now, Dan O’Brien, Danielle Andersen and Antonio Esfandiari serve as brand ambassadors for Ultimate Poker.
